A/N: Apologies to readers of Greendale is where I belong, I still owe you guys an epilogue. Sorry. I just really felt the urge to write this story. The good news is I got a few chapters of this in the can already, so I can finish up GIWIB free of distractions.

Like I said in the summary, this story should probably be read after reading Applied Studies in Cannabis and Dream Analysis for Drunkards. Quick summary for those of you haven't: Troy and Britta started having sex during the period where the group was expelled, and Britta told Shirley during the summer, after Troy left.

I'm trying an experiment this time around: some segments are going to be sexually explicit. frowns on that kind of thing apparently so I'm going to be posting those parts to livejournal (thanks to MC-Aitlyn for warning me about that). I'll make sure to note which chapters are censored (the first one isn't).

It turned out that the group had already been planning to go out that night, to celebrate finally passing Biology, but they quickly came to the shared conclusion that going to Skeeper's was nowhere near a good enough way to welcome him home.

"It'd be weird," Abed summarized helpfully, "Skeeper's is way too new in our lives. We need something with more resonance in our collective backstories."

They were all seated around the study table. Troy ran his hand over its cool, polished wood surface and smiled. He'd missed it, this past summer. He'd always like to pretend, in his mind sometimes, that the table had picked up something from them all of them over the years. That they'd formed some kind of impression in it, that somewhere deep down in its makeup there wasn't just little wood molecules bouncing around in the emptiness but also little bits of the love all of them had shared over the past three and some years. And that those bits would stay here, in this table, in this room, long after all of them had moved on from Greendale Community College.

Boy I'm feeling sentimental, he thought to himself. Then again, I did just see a for real ghost, like, three hours ago.

"How about the Ballroom?" Britta asked in a chipper voice. Troy looked up, surprised. They'd only been there once before, back when he turned 21, and that night wasn't exactly… high on his list of favorite memories. He saw Shirley look up too, in his peripheral vision, but Britta didn't look at her, she just gave him a bright smile he couldn't help but return. He felt his heart twist itself into a knot as a familiar wave of emotions, and a feeling of intense vulnerability, washed over him. He felt his cheeks warm, and looked away. He suddenly wished they were the only two people here, but the thought of he and Britta, alone in the study room, just dredged up old fantasies that made him feel even more exposed.

"The Ballroom?" Jeff asked. He'd been acting aloof, in the way he tended to do, but Troy could tell his friend was glad he was back. "I like it. Take him where he first drank to get him drunk. It's poetic. But are you okay with that Shirley? I know that bar's, uh, meaningful to you."

Shirley definitely looked at Britta this time. Troy thought she might be mad at her about the suggestion, but the expression on her face seemed more… annoyed than anything. It struck him as way too mild a reaction.

"Uh, no," Shirley said, haltingly, "It's… fine with me."

Jeff seemed placated, so Troy decided to ignore Shirley's caginess.

"I think it's a great idea!" Annie said. "That night was pretty 'resonatey', at least to me." She looked over at Troy and smiled. He smiled back, touched by the memory she must be thinking of. He'd missed Annie, too, missed her earnest enthusiasm, even missed how stubborn and bossy she got sometimes.

"I don't want to eat crappy bar food!" Pierce complained. "And I wanted to get a yard marg!"

"Pierce, you go to Skeeper's all the time with Gilbert! This is Troy's night," Shirley's tone sounded patient, but strained.

"Hey, it was Britta's idea not Troy's," Pierce snapped back.

"Pierce, come on." Troy said, touching the older man's arm. Pierce turned in his chair, looking at him. "The Ballroom's actually pretty nice. You didn't really get to see it that much, last time."

"Alright, fine!" Pierce said, and Troy could hear the pout in his voice. "But I'm going home to eat something first."

#

The food at the Ballroom turned out not to be too awful, after all. The group had grabbed a table a good distance away from the other patrons there that night and filled Troy in on that summer's goings on as they ate.

"It's great you finally got your own business, Shirley," Troy said, in between bites of cheeseburger.

"Oh, thank you pumpkin!" Shirley beamed. "It's going to be a lot of work to get it up and running, but I'm so excited."

"So, what did you get up to in the A/C repair school annex, Troy? Meet any pretty air conditioner repairwomen?" Jeff asked, smirking.

Troy glanced over at Britta without even thinking about it, and he could have sworn he saw Jeff's eyes follow his gaze.

"Aw, no not really man. I didn't really… mesh with the other students that well. They'd all been there at least a full year already and were pretty culty. I'd try to talk to them about something and they'd keep trying to relate it back to air conditioning or papyrus reeds or whatever," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Creepy," said Annie, taking a sip of her screwdriver.

"Yeah, they didn't allow any contact with the outside world. I still need to find out what they did with my phone…"

"No media whatsoever?" Abed asked, suddenly. He'd been pretty quite up till then.

"Yeah," Troy answered, looking over at his best friend.

"So you haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises? Prometheus? Spiderman?" Abed asked in rapid succession.

"Nope, nope and nope. You thinking what I'm thinking?" Troy asked, grinning.

"Movie marathon!" they shouted together, standing up and exchanging their handshake across the table. It felt good to do again. He hadn't really realized until just then how much he'd missed the gesture.

"Britta, you never watch any movies. You should join us." Abed said, turning to the blond.

"Oh-"Britta said, surprised, looking between Abed and Troy. Her cheeks reddened almost imperceptibly, but Troy noticed. "Sure. That sounds like fun, actually."

"Cool. Cool cool cool." Troy was a little surprised that his friend had extended the invitation. He'd tried to integrate Britta into some of his and Abed's activities before he'd had to leave for A/C school, but his friend had… resisted.

"Hey!" Annie said, sounding a little hurt. Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed. "Uh, I mean- Britta sees movies. We went to go see Moonrise Kingdom together."

"I-" Abed seemed to be unsure of what to say, which was rare for him. "You're invited too, Annie. Sorry. I thought that was implied. You are our roommate after all.

Annie looked down, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she smiled embarrassedly.

Jeff suddenly slapped Troy across the back, startling him.

"Come on. You're the prodigal son here, right? Let me kick your ass in a game of darts to welcome you home."

#

Troy, it turned out, was better at darts then Jeff, and ended up winning pretty handily. After that, he let Pierce buy him a drink and spent some time with his ex-housemate at the bar. It was good, catching up with him. He seemed to be in high spirits, but whether that was because he was happy to see him or whether he was still relishing his victory over Subway, Troy couldn't tell. Eventually he'd wandered off to talk to Shirley about "corporate strategy", leaving him alone. Jeff had apparently decided to soothe his wounded pride by flirting with Annie (Again?, Troy thought to himself) further down the bar.

That's when he saw Britta, sitting all on her own back at their original table. He'd been watching her, off and on, all night, waiting for a point where he could catch her alone. She'd changed clothing in-between the group's post-final meeting and coming to the bar. She was wearing a long-sleeve shirt, some jeans, and her Chuck Taylor's. He recognized the shirt. It was a light, almost cyan, blue and made of a material that looked extremely soft. She'd worn it to his 22nd birthday. He'd told her that night that it matched her eyes.

She smiled at him as he sat down next to her.

"Having fun?" She asked.

"Yeah. I really missed you guys," he said, beaming. He thought she'd been close before, earlier, but now he felt totally intoxicated by her presence. He could smell her, the familiar lavender scent unlocking the memories he'd been reliving all summer, late at night in his dorm, with a new intensity. The way they'd danced at that recital, their hands roaming just over each other's bodies. The little accidental embrace they'd shared on the KFC simulator. The look of concentration on her face as he watched her read a textbook from across the study table when he thought no one was looking. How it felt to be inside her while she writhed under him.

"I missed you too," she said, reaching out to grab his hand. He could hear the longing in her voice, and the idea that she was having similar thoughts sent a little rush of blood into his penis. Again, he felt overexposed, so he looked around desperately for something, anything, to save him. He saw her glass, filled to the top with clear liquid and ice.

"Dang. Did you ask the bartender for the world's largest serving of vodka or something?"

"No, dummy," she said. Her eyes darted away and she removed her hand. "It's water."

"Oh." Troy said, mentally berating himself. What a fucking dumb thing to say! Why did I just call her an alcoholic? "Sorry. I just… I thought you'd be celebrating the end of finals."

"Well, I'm not done yet. I've still got two more psych classes to finish up this week. And besides-," And with those words, her eyes rested back onto his, boring into him with an intensity that startled him "-I don't want to numb anything I'm feeling, tonight."

He holds her gaze, can't help but stare transfixed at the fire behind her eyes. He feels himself leaning in, knows that unless she stops him he's going to be kissing her, right here in the middle of the bar, in front of everyone. And he doesn't care. Doesn't even understand why he should. Her lips part.

"Troy?" Abed's voice suddenly asked. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Troy pulled back from Britta with a jolt. Abed was standing there, facing them, though Troy hadn't even heard him approach. Britta blushed a furious pink.

"Sorry," Abed apologized. "It's important."

Troy looked at his friend with concern. Abed, who almost never drank, held an empty beer bottle, and looked serious. Even more serious than he usually did. Britta took his hand in hers again.

"Go on. I'm not going anywhere." She told him, before giving Abed a shy smile.

Abed lead him over to the bathrooms, away from the bar proper. Whatever he had to tell him, he apparently wanted a little privacy to do it. They stopped in front of the metal door that lead out back, to an alley.

"What's up buddy?" Troy asked. Abed wasn't looking at him.

"I wanted to have a couple of drinks, first. Before we talked." There was an edge to his voice that only increased Troy's growing sense of worry.

"Abed?"

"I've gotten used to sleeping alone. In the blanket fort I mean."

"Abed what are you talking about?"

Abed turned his head and looked directly at Troy, unblinking. "I'm taking down the Dreamatorium."